Here I am
by ThymineKyuuzumaki
Summary: Naruto is still being hunted by Akatsuki, so Tsunade decides that he must leave again for training! However he is accompanied by a young Hyuuga who needs to train for the approval of her Clan. A journey with Hinata and Naruto, Who knows what will happen when Naruto must pretend to be Kiba so that the Akatsuki don't know he has left the village. Naruhina Fans will love it
1. Chapter 1

**Here I am…**

_**Prologue **_

So here I am? Huh, never would have thought this would happen to me. I was so naïve for so many years… to think I could have had all of this, everything I ever wanted and needed, just from asking a single question. _"Do you love me?"_ Over the last couple of months, the petite, innocent girl that is currently lying next to me had begun to infect me with her amazingly cheery aura. This entire trip, getting away from the village, it is the best idea Kakashi-sensei has ever had. Personally, considering the pairing, I think he had a feeling that something would happen down the road. I guess reading all those perverted books put some wisdom behind that grey hair of his.

My view is disrupted as I hear a small, but extremely cute, yawn to my side and my head instantly clicks towards the noise. Her indigo hair falls over her pale cheek and I can't help but slowly raise my arm out and trace my index finger from her rosy red face to move the cascading hair behind her small ear. The sunlight shining in through the wooden windows hits her so softly, it makes my mouth open a couple of millimetres and I let out a small sigh. The girl wriggles in her spot and the cotton sheet that is wresting against her pale skin begins to shift, showing her amazing figure and making me blush relentlessly.

A voice yells out in the distance.

"Naruto-kun!" snaps out the mask-muffled voice.

I reach over for my black and orange tracksuit pants and quickly pull them over my scarred legs before throwing on a black tank top. I barely manage to get my footing on the cold hard wooden boards below me as I step off the red carpet in the middle of the barn. I grab the silver chain off the desk to my right and wrap it around my hand before snapping it around my neck. Before reaching the steps I turn back to get another look at the gorgeous angel lying before me, "_She must be getting cold"_ I mutter to myself and run over to her side, pulling the sheet up over her shoulders.

Her eyelids flutter as I finish pulling up the cotton, her iris linger towards me and a slight smile begins to lift on the corner of her lips. Those wonderful lips. Red adorns her face as the memories of last night flush over her in a matter of milliseconds. She goes to sit up and the sheet slips down past her collar bones, the young girl manages to catch the corner just before anything major is revealed and by now her whole face is red.

I hear Kakashi-sensei's voice echo in the distance, but it fades into the back of my head.

"Good morning, Hinata-chan" I spurt out in a husky voice.

"N-Naruto-kun" she whispers and lowers her head, staring at the carpet.

As if on its own accord my hand slips down to her shoulder and traces her figure to her slender hips, I can feel her warmth through the divider and my other hand rests at her chin, pulling her face up towards mine at an angle. Slowly, I move my face towards hers, feeling her breathe against me –and mine against her – almost as if our souls are connecting through the invisible barrier.

"How did I end up the luckiest guy in the world?" I whisper, and just like that I claim her soft pink lips as my own. The smell of intoxicating lavender fills my nose to the point that It begins to tickle and I move my hand slowly up her figure, static following my fingertips.

Her hand grips my hair tightly and she ruffles it slightly, with short tugs here and there, she lets out a little moan and jumps, at the sound as if she had never heard it before. I blush a little more before I move my hands to support her back and bring her into a sitting position. I move my hands around her backside and hoist her up on top of me.

I can hear faint stomping, and quickly it gets louder.

Hinata jumps off my lap, grabbing her clothes in a hurry and hiding behind some hay. Just as she has cleared my view Kakashi's grey hair bounces up the steps to the top of the barn.

"Naruto, when I call out to you… it means I need to tell you something, I could have been attacked and you wouldn't even know!" he scolds, pointing towards me, "You lazy ass, its time to train. The hokage is expecting us back at the village in a week or so."

"Yeah yeah pervert, I hear you, let me get dressed, the training from the otherday is still raping my muscles, give me a break" I make a whiny face and he just hits me across the head.

"Meet me outside in five minutes, also tell Hinata that her trainer is waiting for her down at the river bank" The grey haired ninja turns around and begins to walk away, raising his arm in the air to signal each minute with his fingers

"_Tell Hina?_ What? Why would you think I would see her before you?" I look over towards the carpet and see Hinatas jacket lying in the open, the light hitting there frilly layers.

I can't help but face palm myself and quickly pick it up and hold them around the hay that Hinata is hiding in, "I think you forgot this…haha"

A rosy red cheek becomes visible at the corner of the stack and she looks at me ashamed, "Im Sorry Naruto-kun" Her fingers reach the jacket and as she tightens her grip around the jacket I pull her towards me and catch her in my arms, My biceps buldge against her body and I see her blush continue as I turn towards her, "Its okay Hina-"

She cuts me off with a deep kiss.

Kakashi is going to be pissed.

**End of Prologue**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here I am**

_One year ago_

"Naruto-san!" called a voice from far behind the blonde shinobi. However Naruto was violently into his fifth bowl of ramen and by that time had zoned everything else out, All his focus was on the delicious food in front of him.

_Slrrrrrrpppp. _The noise made while he was eating filled up the entire ramen shop, even the old man had ear plugs ready for when Naruto came by.

"Naruto… Are you listening to me?" Ask the young boy placing an envelope on the table.

Naruto slammed down his bowl yelling out more before a smack came across the back of his head, automatically changing his attention towards the impatient artist.

"Sai, do you have to hit me? Kami!" spurted out Naruto, wiping the juice from the ramen from his chin with the sleeve of his jumper.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see you… Now…"

As soon as those words left the other boys mouth Naruto's face dropped, he must be in trouble, why else would the hokage want to see him?

"Ahhh… Really? Do you know why?" asked Naruto in a worried tone, "Im not in trouble again am i? Fuucckk"

"Why would she inform me? It's your business not mine…Just go see her Naruto"

The Kyuubi-vessel sighed loudly and got a bowl of ramen to go, for the trip to see Tsunade. He muttered goodbye to the old man and left some money on the table, picking the envelope up before he left the shop.

The envelope was a plain white casing with two gold strips horizontally about 5 centimetres from the top and bottom of the page. Where the envelope's lid met the body sat a red thick stamp with the leaf village's symbol. The Symbol has a special jutsu placed on it so that only the person that the seal maker is thinking about can open it so as Naruto reached for the seal is disappeared into the paper leaving the top open for him to see the top of the white paper that lied inside with his prominent end…(At least that's what Naruto was under the impression it would be)

In big bold red letters at the top of the page sat 'Confidential', By this point Naruto began to get excited at the possibility on a new mission out of the village. He loved the Village but he had been trapped inside for quite a while due to Akatsuki wanting to steal his Bijuu and everything… He didn't really see how that would stop them but he went with it to make Granny happy.

He skimmed over the paper picking out key words and there was two words that he noticed the most, it came under the heading, "Missions Estimated Time"

_What? Does Granny Hate me now? _

His pace quickened and in a matter on minutes he reached the tower and opened the large red doors to begin the traumatizing journey up the stairs, which to be honest Naruto thought should be a mission in themselves, _Yeah, she should pay us to walk these fricking stairs_.

A dark haired girl with a small pig awaited Naruto at the top of the stairs, she stood behind her desk and was staring intently at the paperwork in her hands.

"Shizune-chan!" Naruto yelled in excitement, "What is this about Granny sending me-" His words were cut short with a punch to the face, sending him vigorously into the wall behind him, he finished his last word as he slid down, a slight trickle of blood running from his nose, "away…"

"Naruto! You are not supposed to talk about the mission outside of my office, Baka! That's why its confidential."

"Ahh Baa-chan, no need to be so violent, why does everyone seem to want to hit me today? First Sakura when I went over to her house this morning and then Sai at the ramen stand, I am not a fucking punching bag" Naruto rubbed his head in pain and limped into Tsunade's office.

"Just sit down Naruto" commanded the big breasted hokage.

As soon as the doors behind Naruto clicked shut he instantly turned to Tsunade slamming his hands down on the desk. "What is this shit? Your sending me away for a year and a half? Why?"

"Naruto, you being here is a danger to all of the people in the village, we don't need Akatsuki ripping apart Konoha searching for you!"

Naruto slid back into a chair giving into the old ladies logic… "I suppose your right, Ahhh… Who am I going with? Please, PLEASE, tell me you're not sending some creepy pervert with me?"

"Yo!" sounded a voice from the window.

"Just in time Kakashi" Tsunade pointed to the window at the end of her sentence, "Sorry to disappoint you Naruto, but we need to send you with some fine ninja in case something happens and Akatsuki manage to track you down.

"Don't be so upset Naruto, I am your sensei, you are meant to be excited about spending time with me, im sure excited to spend a couple of weeks with you…" Kakashi had absolutely no excitement in his voice as he just continued to read the orange book in his hands.

A cough was heard from Tsunade as she spoke under it. "Cough, Year and a half, Cough"

"Sorry what was that Hokage-sama?"

"Did you even read the file Kakashi-sensei?"

Kakashi looked from left to right and then down at Naruto, "I looked… over it" he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment and Naruto mentally face palmed himself. "What?" questioned the pervert.

"Kakashi, the mission goes for a year and a half…"

Naruto heard a thud from the window. As Tsunade had started her sentence Kakashi was about to hop into the room to take a seat, but after hearing the news his foot slipped on the window ledge and he went face first into the floor below him.

"A… A year and a half? Where are we going?" Questioned the mask wearing shinobi.

"A small town about 6 days travel from here called the Riverside, Its peaceful, not much population and no one will hopefully search for you there. You leave 2 days from now so please prepare yourself diligently and prepare for the long journey, I have already organised somewhere for you to live" Instructed Tsunade.

"A small town! What the fuck are we supposed to do there for a year and half!" Exclaimed Naruto impatiently, "This is bullshit"

Tsunades face grew serious, "Naruto, the sake of the villagers is at stake here, the town will be a nice change from this village, no one will know who you are and you can live freely for a while, You will be coming back stop bitching and whining"

Naruto folded his arms and scoffed as he pushed back into the seat.

"Plus, it is the perfect place for you to train, I have made sure the place you are staying has plenty of room for you to attempt to learn new justu's and spar. On the positive side, Its called Riverside so maybe you can get better at fundamentals of chakra control, you are still using more then you need to" debated the Hokage, "Now go get ready, I have things to do"

Naruto got up from his chair in a brisk movement and stomped his way out of the room and towards the stairs.

"Naruto-san, How are you-"Shizune was cut off as Naruto seemed to focus on nothing but storming out of the Tower.

He quickly made his way back to his dingy apartment and began to pack his items into scrolls for easier convenience. _A long trip huh? I better take most of my clothes_. He pulled his draws out aggressively, pulled the clothes out threw them onto the scroll in a bundle of mess and banged the draw shut, causing a photo that sat on top of it to fall to the ground. A shatter was heard as it made contact.

He looked down and reached out for the upside down photo, staring at its back. When he turned it over in his hands he recognized the very familiar photo. It was the one of team 7 back when they were genins, before Sasuke left. A small smile braced Naruto's face and he looks at the face the Uchiha was making. _That was a good day…_

Naruto slowly took the glass off the frame and placed the picture into his scroll to take with him.

On the other side of town another Ninja began packing for a very similar mission, Hinata Hyuuga was being sent out to the middle of nowhere so she could train and improve herself before the test to see if she is worthy of being heir to the Hyuuga clan.

_More then a year away from everyone… How horrible, I already have minimal social contact, atleast it won't be too much of a shock being alone in the middle of nowhere. _

She looked down at her neatly folded clothes and sealed her final scroll before placing it with the rest of her items. The Hyuuga heir stepped towards her bed and got into her sheets, not wanting to fall asleep. The sooner she slept, the sooner she only had one last day in Konoha with her team. _I have to see Naruto tomorrow…Atleast say goodbye. _

**The End. **

_Criticism is welcome, to an extent. (Aka no saying your shit etc)_


	3. Chapter 3

**Here I am**

_Chapter 3_

Tonight was Naruto's final night in Konoha for a very long time, However he was unaware that it was also someone else's as well. He had called all his friends out to have dinner with him, even if they didn't know the real reason, they were more than happy to uphold their friendship with Naruto and join him down at a the Barbeque shack (Naturally no one wanted Ramen so Naruto decided he would pick up enough instant ramen to last a year, and also a couple of hot bowls for the six day travel).

The Blonde stood in front of his mirror at home and looked down at his orange and black jumpsuit. _Maybe it's too hot to wear this out tonight…_ the thought crossed Naruto's mind, but it wasn't the real reason he decided to change his clothes, he was more worried that he wanted to make a good impression on his friends in case something happened and he wasn't home in the time he was meant to be. Actually, Tsunade hadn't told him how they were covering for him leaving, but assumed they would work something out.

Having already packed basically his entire wardrobe, which might I add was close to the size of a garbage bag altogether, (he had a tendency to spend more money on Ramen then clothing to wear) he decided to leave the house and get some new clothes just for tonight.

He left his apartment, locking the old, creaky door behind himself. _To think I might actually miss this hell hole of an apartment_ He had a point in thinking this, his apartment was tiny and in very bad condition considering the rent he paid. He paid more rent then all the others in the building, he just assumed that was because of the Kyuubi. Naruto couldn't blame the man though (Seeing he was lucky to have somewhere to live at all)

Naruto walked down the broken steps and out onto the pebble road that lead to the main roads of Konoha. Strolling past all of the different shops, Naruto had trouble deciding which habitation to actually enter. One place instantly caught his eye, 'Yellow Flash', obviously it was a vendor dedicated to the memory of the fourth hokage, But as Naruto looked through the window he actually liked what he saw.

He was in and out in a flash, _How ironic_.

Naruto spent a long time back in his apartment looking in the mirror trying to get used to what he looked like in other clothes. At first he just thought he looked like a douchebag _How can I possibly be seen in public in this crap_, But after staring for a couple of minutes he came to the decision that it actually looked kind of nice. Of course he would never leave his orange jumpsuit behind, but this wasn't half bad.

He sported dark black jeans that fit tightly to his legs with a bright orange belt that held them up in the right place. His t-shirt was white with a v-neck cut and he wore a black leather jacket that he planned to one day have embedded with the Uzumaki symbol. This along with his black headband completed the look. He never realised how skinny he was without the baggy jumpsuit on, _that ramen had to go somewhere right?_ At that moment Naruto turned around and checked out his backside _My arse maybe?_ Quickly, However, He turned back around and couldn't believe what a girl he was, he actually just checked to see if his arse was fat.

Looking over at the time, panic took over his facial expression. _Ah fuck, I'm late, my last night here and I'm late to my own get together_

Naruto had no time to wait, so instead of going out the door he quickly jumped to the window and leaped across the building towards his destination. The view was nice from up here; he could see all of the happy villagers going about their usual nightly activities. _I'm going to miss this_. By the time the Barbeque Shack began to crawl its way into his periphery he could see all of his fellow ninjas waiting outside for his presence, everyone was there on time (Even Shikamaru).

They all turned suddenly as his feet lightly hit the ground after jumping from the two story building. Their faces held… shock, surprise, awe. They couldn't believe this was Naruto in front of them. His cool appearance was hiding how embarrassed and shocked he felt inside, looking at their faces scan over his new clothes.

Sai was the first to point something out, "I never realized how skinny you were…"

Naruto sighed and walked over towards everyone, "Yeah my jumpsuit was in the wash"

They all exchanged pleasantries and walked inside the shack to begin dinner; this was the first time in months they were all in the village without any of them off on missions. They ate and laughed and had such a good night. Naruto decided to really start the fun by shouting everyone a round of sake, to his surprise no one denied, not even the Hyuuga's. He really didn't expect Neji or Hinata to be able to even hold down a drink (His assumption is that their family is so strict they would believe that sake wasn't good enough for them). Naruto did realise this, but by now he had been staring at the Hyuuga's for quite a while and Hinata had finally noticed, a slight blush crossed her face.

"Naruto, are you okay?" questioned Neji.

"Oh, yeah I'm fine, everyone drink up!" The leather-clad boy picked up his drink and everyone else followed.

Before any of them realised it, the workers at the shack were ready to kick them out into the cold air of the night. Many of the young shinobi had either enough to drink, or a little more than enough. Neji was probably the biggest shock when it came to alcohol changing how you act. "Come here Tenten, you sexy thing" Lee quickly interfered before Neji had a chance to grope her butt (And probably get a kunai to the face)

"Neji! Youth flows through you, but if you continue to do what you plan to, I believe TenTen-chan may stop that flow altogether" Lee went through the effort of saying this sentence to a boy that had already passed out.

Naruto, Sakrura, Hinata, Ino and Shino all stood outside the bar about to part ways.

Sakura slowly shifted her position towards that of Naruto's and placed her shoulder so that is was just touching Naruto's.

"Walk me home Naruto?" Demanded the pink haired ninja.

Naruto stepped to the side and dodged the alcohol drenched breathe that Sakura spread over him, "Uh sorry Sakura, I need to get home. A lot to do tomorrow."

Sakura raised her finger drunkenly and pointed at him, "What could you possibly have to do that is better than walki-" Ino quickly covered Sakuras mouth and pulled her aside.

"Come on Drunko, Let's get you home before you're parents get worried."

Ino stumbled off with a drunk Sakura around her arms. Shino and Hinata still stood there quietly chatting between themselves, "We are going to head home now Naruto, I am under the assumption that you live in the same general direction as Hinata-chan and Myself, Would you care to join us?"

Naruto let a smile leave his lips and nodded happily to his two comrades. They all began walking, awkward silence consuming the trio instantly, this made Naruto nervous, so naturally after a while he just began to blurt out sentences.

"So Shino, How uh… is the bugs going?" he questioned towards the covered boy.

"Good."

_One sentence? That's all he's going to give me… ah maybe Hinata will have more to say_

No one knew this, but Hinata was feeling rather drunk and was so busy focusing on walking that she hadn't taking in the full extent of the idea that she was walking home with Naruto, after he blew off a mind-blowingly drunk Sakura.

"Hinata-san! How is everything going? Being heir and all?" This was Naruto's attempt at getting her to speak up.

The indigo haired woman looked over to the blonde, a slight blush adorning her face and she surprised herself by responding, "Uh, I-Its very formal, N-Naruto-kun…"

"Yeah, must be hard with a dad like yours" Naruto looked off in front of himself at the thought of family.

"Mmm… He is very controlling, I had to make a clone just so I was able to come out tonight."

The imagery of Hinatas dad finding out she went out with the demon vessel and got drunk amused Naruto so much that he began to laugh very loudly. Hinata wasn't entirely sure what he was laughing at and shifted her view towards her feet, luckily for Naruto he noticed a lot more when he was drunk and quickly explained his thoughts, making Hinata laugh and Shino give a slight chuckle. They continued walking and talking for another couple of minutes before reaching a fork in the road.

"Well this is me, have a good night Hinata-chan, Naruto-san" Shino waved towards the other two and turned to walk down the left path. As Hinata and Naruto continued walking they eventually succumbed to the silence. Naruto looked over at her and for the first time realised something, _Hinata is so pretty, _The light was hitting her face in just the right way, a slight shadow showed the delicate features of her face.

It didn't take long for Hinata to notice him looking at her and she quickly mumbled a sentence, "Wasn't your house back there, N-Naruto-kun"

The blonde hadn't even noticed (I guess he is blonde for a reason) He rose his arm and sheepishly ruffled his hair. "Ah yeah, but what kind of man would I be if I let you walk home alone?"

Hinata blushed and looked away, the two continued small talk and by the time they reached the Hyuuga gates Naruto realised he didn't really know anything about the Girl that stood shyly in front of the ridiculously huge Hyuuga front gates. That's when it hit him, he wouldn't get to know her for atleast another two years, he left in the morning and he regrated never spending enough time with the petite figure.

"Have a good night, Hinata-san" he said in a husky voice which made Hinata wonder why his tone had changed to such a serious one, but he continued with a sentence she didn't expect, "Would it be too much to ask for a handshake?"

She simply nodded approval.

He took a step forwards and instantly become the clumsiest guy in the entire village, tripping on a root and wrapping himself around the nearest object. In this case, Hinata. He steadied his footing and fixed his posture without moving his arms from around the girl. Hinatas head was resting against Naruto's shoulder and the blush on her face was violently growing. Naruto inhaled and got caught up in the lavender scent that she emitted before realising how awkward it was that he was hugging a girl he had just realised he knew barely anything about. He released his grip and took a step back before slightly bowing to Hinata and muttering a goodbye, "Have a good night, Hinata-chan."

When Naruto arrived home, he found a package waiting on his bed with specific instructions. _Are you fucking kidding me? They want to do what? _

Laid out on the bed where clothes of someone Naruto couldn't stand.

_You HAVE to be fucking kidding me_

**The end**

_Author note: A little rushed but please enjoy, Review. _


	4. Chapter 4

**Here I am **

_The next morning_

Hinata stood waiting at the gate, in her usual attire. She was early, Hinata always had to be early. She wouldn't be able to stand making someone wait for her, it would make her so guilty. Of course, the was ridiculously early… about half an hour. She scanned her surroundings and her view was filled with a large, vibrantly green tree to her left. She shifted her eyesight upwards towards the burning sun and decided to seek refuge under the large umbrella-like shade. Sitting down next to it reminded her of the first time she had seen Naruto after he got back from his three year journey with his _mentor_. How she blushed feeling his breathe against her skin. Closing her eyes she imagined his handsome face, every single line and definition in his face was so clear to her, almost as if he was standing right in front of her.

"Hinata-chan!" yelled a voice right next to her.

_N-Naruto kun _She prepared herself for the sight of the blonde boy before opening her eyes. She sat shocked and turned her head to the side.

"Kiba-kun? What are you doing here?" she questioned at the dog boy.

"I have a top secret mission Haha, Why are you here?" he replied in a confused voice.

"I'm going training to prepare for my ritual of proving myself worthy to be the heir of the Hyuuga… I told you that the other day"

Kiba's expression changed to one of embarrassment, "Haha I forgot, Sorry Hinata-chan"

That's when Hinata noticed him do something weird, he placed his hand behind his head and began to ruffle his own hair. Silence overtook them and she looked around for Kiba's Dog, Akimaru1 .

"Where is your best friend Kiba?"

That is when he began to look around sheepishly; this is when Hinata figured something really weird was going on, "Uh, Sorry im acting so weird. It's just odd not having him around; my mum said I wasn't allowed to bring him with me… I think she plans to begin mating him with other dogs so that the younger children can bond with their partners"

_That makes sense_ Hinata reasoned with herself.

"Are you two ready?" A husky, dark voice came from behind Kiba, It was Kakashi, still staring down at his favourite book.

"The two of us?" Kiba was confused at this.

"Yes Kiba, we are being sent on the mission to keep Hinata safe while she trains for her ritual."

Hinata looked to the ground, slightly embarrassed that she needed body guards to accompany her so that she could prove that she was worthy of being heir. But if she couldn't protect herself traveling for six days, what was the chance she would actually impress the Hyuuga elders. She looked up to see her sensei now being present behind the masked ninja and decided to help herself up from the tree she had begun to enjoy.

"It's time to go Kakashi" instructed Kurenai in a very unamused tone.

"Yeah let's do this!" Shouted Kiba. Kakashi looked at him with one eyebrow raised and Kiba new straight away that it meant to settle down.

So there journey began, Kiba looked at his feet as he crossed over the gate of the village, Saying goodbye to the guards on duty. _Over a year huh? Hinata being here is a big surprise, but I guess it's a good cover for me. _As the journey continued. The Sun above them began to burn their skins, especially Hinatas pale white complexion. Sweat began to drip down their skin and whatever water they had brought was almost gone by midday. Kiba would swear they had walked several kilometres by now, Kakashi just thought he was being overdramatic.

_Kiba is complaining a lot more than usual… and to Kakashi sensei, I didn't know they were so close. _

"Okay Kurenai, its time to give everyone a break to eat lunch, it will take us only five days at the rate we are going. So we can extend our breaks to give us more energy in case we are attacked. That clearing just off the road looks secluded enough to hide us from any rebels that may pass by. Hinata, can you please take the water bottles and look for a source to fill them, Kiba – you follow her and pick up some wood so that we can cook our lunches?"

"And what are you going to do pervert?!" exclaimed Kiba loudly, pointing towards the pervert.

"Uh… I have… things to do…"

"LIAR!" Shouts Kiba.

"Kiba-kun! Don't be so rude" At this outbreak from Hinata, Kiba turned to face her. His face began to grow red and surprise took over his facial expression, "He isn't our sensei, so you should treat him with some respect… it's not very nice to call someone a liar."

"Ah" Kiba muttered and looked to the ground, "Sorry… Hinata-chan"

"Okay, Okay, You can be sorry later Kiba… Go on you two, the sooner you get back the sooner we eat and leave" explained the white haired shinobi.

Kiba was very excited to have lunch, so he managed to pick up some wood very quickly, he had skipped breakfast because his alarm decided not to go off and he was almost horribly late to meeting everyone. If it was for that rock that was thrown through his window he would of never made it. The rock had managed to hit him directly in the face, whoever threw it had very good aim, but by the time he managed to have a look for the culprit they had disappeared. After making sure he had more then enough wood the young boy decided to search for his companion. He tracked her scent through the woods a little bit to his left. The trail ended at the entrance to a slioghtly lit cave, inside sat a spring that went further into the ground.

"That Byuakkugan really comes in handy if you were able to find this river Hinata-chan! I wouldn't of even guessed to look here" The voice had shocked Hinata greatly, causing her to drop one of the water bottles onto the ground. The liquid she had just acquired began to spill from the lid. Reaching out for the drink bottle, she gripped the cold surface tightly, only to feel warmth on top of her hand. Kiba was paralysed by the feeling of her soft skin; it felt like static was present wherever her skin met his. Hinata pulled her hand away very quickly.

"Ah sorry Hinata-chan, I didn't mean to do that… Your hand is really soft"

Hinata looked for anything else in the cave to focus on, but to her disappointment nothing was visible enough to distract her, So she turned herself to face the young boy, "It's okay Kiba-kun, You didn't mean to… you were just helping me"

Kiba looked around with a faint blush on his face, _why do I feel this sudden heat around the skin where we made contact… Her h and was so cold, but it felt good against my own skin_

After a moment of silence Hinata spoke up. "We better head back to Kurenai- sensei and Kakashi-sensei."

The moment they placed a foot in the campsite Kakashi prompted them to set up the fire and to gather the food out of their bags. Hinata reached in and pulled out some rice cakes and raw vegetables as her lunch. Kiba looked over with a grimace and pulled his own lunch out front his bag.

Everyone looked at him as he boiled his water and poured it into the Styrofoam bowl.

"Kiba-kun, Are you okay?"

Kiba looked over to his sensei, "Why wouldn't I be?"

Hinata had only just finished placing her food down on the ground and positioning herself into a comfortable spot to eat. When she looked over to Kiba confusion grew on her face.

_Why is Kiba eating Instant Ramen?_

"Kiba… the last time I checked you hated Ramen? Especially instant Ramen?" Kurenai hadn't seen the boy eat anything but healthy vegetables or lean meat in the entire time she had been teaching him. That is long enough to know that something wasn't right.

"Haha. Oh, Naruto recently got me into them… Sorry for confusing you" he looked to the food in front of him and attempted to eat it in a mild manner… if he just began to destroy the bowl in one gulp they would definitely be curious as to what was actually going on, and until they made it to the Acreage, Hinata and Kurenai had to believe that he was Kiba.

_God Naruto, That was fucking close _Thought Kakashi to himself while staring at the young boy, _You suck at being Kiba… Even I'd do a better job. _

**The End**

A/N 1 I couldn't remember how to spell his dogs name, sorry it has been a couple of years since I have written any fanfiction.

Please review so I know that you enjoy the story! It gives me motivation to get another chapter out ASAP


	5. Chapter 5

**Here I am**

_Day Two of the travel Part 1_

Naruto woke up to a shake from the one and only perverted mask wearing shinobi (Or atleast he hoped Kakashi was the only one). The blonde looked around drowsily and noted that it was still dark out, it must have been his turn to watch over the campsite. He rubbed his eyes, getting rid of the gunk that had been helping keep his eyes closed and turned to grab his pants. It had been one day and he already longed for the time when he could wear his infamous orange jumpsuit. _Ahh I will never wear anything else ever again, These pants are so uncomfortable._

When he had gotten home to see kiba's normal getup resting on his bed the other night he had been more than overly confused as to why someone would give him such ugly clothes as a present. He had assumed it was a present because there was a large red ribbon and bow sitting on top with a letter. Tsunade's idea of a sick joke.

"_Naruto, For the next couple of days until you reach your destination you must be dressed up as Kiba Inuzuka, we suspect Akatsuki has spies watching the gate and each ninja that departs. It would be dangerous for you if we let you leave without someone form of protection. Think of this as payback for calling me old…You know what to do – Tsunade" _

Naruto couldn't help but think of how stupid this was, the idea that he had to keep it up for the entire trip. He didn't know an overall amount about Kiba…_ I mean, he is an arrogant jackass?I could act like that easily, but what if someone asks personal questions?_

What would Naruto do if he said something wrong, he is with the boy's sensei and partner? Come to think of it, Naruto noticed that Hinata was suspicious of him, the way he acted. Why wouldn't she be? However, he hadn't spent enough time with her for the young indigo haired shinobi to suspect she was Naruto. When Naruto thought back to it, He hadn't really spent much time with Hinata ever… Except for those couple of tracking missions after Sasuke had left.

Before Naruto knew it he was sitting outside on a cold hard log and looking out into an abyss of darkness, the fire he had to keep himself warm was small and half covered over by some form of boulder, to stop the view from the road. It isn't very safe to have a fire going at night when you are possibly being hunted. But hopefully this Kiba outfit has tricked the spies enough to think that he was still in the village, _If there is any spies. _

Naruto sighed out of boredom after the first half an hour and decided to make two clones of himself and one to play some cards and the other to continue keeping a look out. These shifts on lookout weren't too bad, depending on the amount of Ninja on the trip. There is four of them, so we can all roughly get six hours sleep. They had all decided to let Hinata take the first shift, followed by himself, and then lastly Kurenai. Really, only the people who get broken sleep, Kakashi and Naruto, were a bit messed around by the shifts. If you have the first shift it isn't too bad, you get 6 hours sleep straight and you just have to stay up a bit later. However, being a Ninja on a mission, even the sleep you have earned can be hard to acquire. You may get six hours to stay in your tent and sleep, it doesn't mean your mind turns off. Every flicker of the bushes and crack of leafs keeps your brain awake, its not uncommon to get close to half of the sleep you are able to get.

"Do you have any jacks?" questioned one Kiba to the other.

"Ah… no… no I don't…" he lied to the clone.

"Yes you do! I win!"

"HEY! I don't have any…"

"You can't lie to yourself?!-"

The two boys had been cut off b the sound of a zipper to Kiba's left.

Hinata had woken up and probably came out to yell at him. _Great, piss off the only person im going to spend time with for the next year. _

"Ah, Im so sorry Hinata-chan" He quickly dispersed the clones as he apologized.

"Kiba-kun, its okay, you know I have trouble sleeping on missions, I just needed some fresh air, Kurenai sensei can be troubling to sleep next to" Kiba rose his eyebrows at the insinuation and peeked over her shoulder and into the tent behind her.

Kurenai was spread out covering basically all of the available surface area of the bottom of the tent, one hand spread out directly over where he could only assume Hinata was sleeping… _How did she even fit into that tent?_ Their sensei made a small scoff and moved her hand to scratch her stomach, this scared Hinata a little, not wanting to wake up the sleep deprived Jounin, she quickly closed the zipper to the tent.

The Hyuuga heir moved over to the log opposite Kiba and sat down, staring at the fire.

"It's so pretty isn't it? Kiba-kun?"

Naruto looked down to the fire and watched the flames flicker in the night, the way each flame slowly engulfed the one above it, swirling around but keeping in close proximity.

"Yeah… You're Right" The blonde moved his gaze to the pale woman sitting in front of him. Her pale skin reflected the fire elegantly and he watched her stare intently at the fire.

"Im glad you're here, Kiba-kun… it would have been horrible, going away by myself for so long… I hope you don't get too homesick because of me" she looked over at the boy remorsefully, "Thankyou"

The corner of Naruto's mouth lifted slightly into a grin, and he smiled Hinata, staring into her beautiful eyes and traced the different parts of her face with him mind, the way her hair gently fell onto her forehead and how her bangs rested against her rosy cheeks. He then noticed that she was shaking very gently, because he was always so insanely warm, he hadn't noticed that it was relevantly cold outside.

"Hinata-chan, Here" He got up and slowly lifted his arms out of each side of his jacket and began to make steps towards her, place the jacket around her arms and back, "You look cold"

Hinata resisted, "No, Kiba-kun, keep it… its cold" she tried to reason with the brown haired boy in front of her, but it had no effect, he was intent on her wearing his jacket.

They began to talk and proceeded to do so for the next half an hour or so before Hinata challenged her friend (Or atleast who she thought was her best friend Kiba) to a game of poker. After kicking his arse for over three games, Naruto decided to wonder how she always knew to fold or pick up cards.

"You wouldn't be cheating now, would you Hinata-chan?" He smiled at her and walked over to see her cards, "That Byakugan must really come in handy, huh? " he laughed at her and grabbed her cards before sitting down across from her. He hadn't noticed but his hands had begun to get clammy after being so close to the Hyuuga, a few of the cards slipped out of his hands and he bent down instantly to gather them.

"Ah Kiba-kun, you are so clumsy tonight." Signalled Hinata before helping him pick up the cards, "Let me help"

They both continued to pick up the cards that had fallen onto the ground, before they knew it there was only one card remaining, both the Shinobi's reached out for the cards and Naruto slightly grazed Hinatas hand as he placed his on top of hers to grip the card. He was stunned by the feeling of her skin on his, he couldn't move. Looking up at the girl in front of him, he blushed slightly and his eyes gazed towards her lips. They were pale pink, but Naruto had never seen such beautiful lips. His face began to move in closer and Hinata quickly pulled back.

"Ah, Sorry Kiba-kun, here" She passed the card back to him before quickly staring up at the moon, "It's probably time for you to wake Kurenai Sensei… Don't worry, I'll do it and then hopefully be able to get some sleep." She hurried off into the tent, leaving a stunned Naruto.

_Wha? What…_ he had never seen someone leave a conversation so quickly _That was… Weird? What just happened? _

**The End**

A/N sorry the wait, I probably wont update on weekends (In Australia) mainly on days I attend university as I write on train, I hope you look forward to the next chapter.

-ThymineKyuuzumaki


	6. Chapter 6

**Here I am**

_Day 2 of travelling. Part 2. Roughly Noon, _

By the second day Naruto was already sick of pretending to be Kiba, the only benefit was that Hinata didn't faint around him like she usually would; she laughed with him… even played pranks on him. _So that's the way she is with her close friends_. He thought it was weird, and gathered that the only people that saw her like this would be her team. From what she had told him about her family, he doubted they even knew her, He never knew she had such a bad home life. She was constantly pointed out as incompetent and shunned by everyone else. _Im glad im not an heir, it would be so much pressure. _However, he was glad that she was still able to laugh and smile with her friends, and at the moment he had wished that he had taken more time out of his life for her over the last couple of years, he knew everyone pretty well (except shino). Mainly because they are all loud, confident and don't mind telling Naruto when he is wrong. Hinata however, had never said anything that even insinuated towards Naruto being an idiot. Which surprised him, _she is so smart_. He had watched her find most of the food and water today, Naruto felt kind of useless.

They all sat around a small clearing eating there fruit that the indigo girl had found. She managed to use her Byakugan to hunt down an apple tree, along with some other fruits. The Kyuubi-container wasn't used to eating so well, and his stomach had stopped yelling at him so often for all of the crap he ate. He needed his energy anyway, and fruit was a much better source for that compared to Ramen.

"Kakashi-sensei, how many more days do you reckon it will take before we make it to our destination?" he directed to the pervert who was now re-reading the first of Jiraiya's 'Research'.

"Ah… We are moving a lot quicker than expected… maybe two more days?" he looked over to Kurenai and received a nod, "Yeah… two more days"

"Excuse me, Kakashi-sensei, how long are we staying here for?"

Kakashi's face grew full of surprise and he looked over to the Hyuuga who directed the question at him. "We should leave as soon as we can, we shouldn't stay in one place too long"

Hinata just gave him a slight nod and begun to pack up her belongings.

Naruto scoffed down the remainder of his apple and threw the core off into the forest before following Hinatas example.

When the two younger Ninja's left Kurenai turned to Kakashi and gave him a small smile, "I've never seen her talk so much to another Jounin, you should be impressed Kakashi"

She waited thirty seconds for a response and turned over to him to see Kakashi intently staring into his book. Kurenai sighed, grabbed his book and smacked it over his head, "You dirty pervert I was talking to you!"

"Huh? Oh yeah, Hinata, I see what you mean… Imagine if she knew who she was really talking to? Haha, we would be carrying her the entire journey."

Kurenai was worried about what Hinatas reaction will be once she finds out that she was with Naruto this entire time. She had been acting very friendly with him, walking next to him, talking with him, since they started walking this morning. _Poor girl is going to have a heart attack when she finds out… she will probably kill me for not telling her. _Everyone (But Naruto) had known about her crush for the fox-like boy for years, maybe this is her chance to get over her inability to hold a conversation, or sentence even, with him.

Hinata and Naruto led the travel today, standing at the front of their team. Naruto glanced over towards her and back at the road in front of him, _Ah I wonder how long I can keep this up_ he was having troubles and it was only the second day. So far their journey had been very pleasant; they hadn't run into any bandits or rogue ninja's. It was odd, almost too nice.

Naruto instantly decided he had been too relaxed and it was only the second day of the trip. He heard yelling coming from further up in the road and it sounded like civilians. They had been nearing a town and it sounded like something was going down. He looked back at Kakashi and his sensei signalled for them to begin travel within the trees. They all leapt up to the highest branch and began to increase their speed of travel. Quickly leaping from one branch to another, feeling the hard wood change consistency below his feet, Naruto had a bad feeling about the town ahead.

"Hinata! Check what is ahead of us!" Shouted out Kurenai.

Hinata whispered to herself "Byakugan"

It was about another kilometre up the road, a group of bandits surrounded every citizen in the town within the town square, holding the children up at the front, swords rested against their necks. Hinata was shocked at the scene, "Civilians surrounded by what I can assume are bandits"

As they edged closer Naruto couldn't wait for a fight, it had been a while since he had to fight against a real enemy (Considering Tsunade kept him locked inside the village as of late).

Finally the view was upon him, so many women forced to the ground, being pillaged in front of their own husbands. The men's hands were tied behind their back and a piece of fabric was placed over their mouth and each man had a bandit behind him forcing his head to watch the scene.

The bandit leader stepped throughout the scene, it was obvious he was the superior one, every other bandit wore bland black clothes but this particular bandit had a red sash across his front and a long scar on his left cheek that went from the back of his ear down towards the middle of his collar bones. He walked over to one of the women and ran his sword from her skirt up to the entrance of her blouse, with one movement he cut through the buttons and her shirt flew open.

"This will be an example to all of you! For not managing to keep up with our taxes… next time you don't pay up, we will get rid of another child… and ravish your women again!" he lent down to grab the ladies cheek, grazing her skin with his dirty hands, and moving down to her collar. Before he was able to do this smoke filled the area around him and he was blinded.

He felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around he waved his sword flaringly towards the movement.

"Over here" whispered a voice.

There was a tug on his chest and then the smoke began to clear. The bandit looked down and saw his red slash missing.

"Over here douchebag" Naruto insulted the bandit by placing the sash on himself.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing kid?" The bandit was enraged and began to walk towards Naruto, pointing over to his bandits to do the same. He barely made it two steps before the boy in front of him dispersed into a cloud of white smoke and out of what seemed like nowhere, the team of leaf Shinobi appeared and started taking out the bandits, one by one.

Naruto grabbed his kunai and in-between dodging, dealt severe damage to each Bandit. He dodged and slashed and flew himself under one man's legs and swept the legs out of under another man. He flipped himself over one man and grabbed onto the bandits shoulders before bringing his force back down to the ground and throwing the guy over his head and into another group of men. Hinata stood in her family's legendary stance and continued to slam her palm into man after man rendering their body useless. Naruto looked over to her and was in awe of her fluid movements before he felt impact against his face. He only had to look at the scar on the man's cheek once before he realised that it was the main bandit.

"You shouldn't let your guard down to perv on your team mate, you little shit."

"You shouldn't be such an arrogant bastard" retorted Naruto.

Naruto ran at the man, pulling his hand back and shaping it into a fist, he aimed for the bandits face. However, before he went in to make contact he noticed the thin sword being moved towards his own chest, he pulled back mid punch and ducked below the sword before tackling his enemy to the ground. The bandit slid back a few meters but quickly regained his balance before charging at Naruto, His sword made contact and pierced Naruto's stomach before dissipating yet again. He swiftly turned around to block Naruto's next punch, grabbing onto Naruto's arm heavily. Naruto threw his other hand towards the man's abdomen but the scarred man caught this as well.

The bandit unsheathed his other sword and placed it against Naruto's heart, "Goodbye," The bandit whispered.

Before the leader knew it, he felt a pain in his chest, looking down he saw nothing. Troubling himself he turned around and saw a small pale palm come once more at him, and that was the last thing he remembered.

The battlefield was now quiet. Kakashi and Kurenai began untying the men who ran quickly towards their wives and Naruto and Hinata helped the children. Before they could leave however, they tied up all of the bandits and sent a message towards Konoha to tell Tsunade that they could come and pick up the bandits and pay them all appropriately for getting rid of the problem.

The town's people were amazed that the four ninja had taken on that many bandits, but before they were able to thank the young Ninja's, they were gone… as if they were never even there in the first place.

Naruto didn't get why they had to leave straight away, but Kakashi attempted to make him see that if they stayed in the town for too long they could lead the Akatsuki in the general directions (incase they had caught on that Naruto wasn't in the village anymore. Plus they had more important things to do, they had to find a secluded area to set up camp for the night and luckily for Naruto every second day they set up camp near some hot springs so that each person could take a bath and clean off (Lucky for Naruto as he had worked up a sweat and was now sent to the back of the travel formation so that the body odour would not bother anyone else. As the day began to end the team decided to settle down next to a clearing that hid a water source. The first to bath was Kurenai; she was quick, but surely clean. Kakashi went next, sneaking his orange book in with him, no one wanted to know what he planned to do with that. Hinata let Naruto go first. He argued with her at this as he didn't mind waiting.

"Kiba-kun it's okay! You smell a lot more than I do, I will go last, and honestly im doing our sensei's a favour!" she giggled at him as he walked off towards his destination in order to bathe.

Naruto undressed himself quickly and jumped into the spring, it felt so good against his skin. He began to brush over his body and clean the dirt off his arms and legs. When he was done cleaning he couldn't help but just relax in the water, it was most probably the best bath he would ever have in his life, just the right temperature and pressure of bubbles. Time flew by and he didn't even notice, his team did notice this and sent Hinata after him.

"Kiba-kun! You're hogging the water! Kurenai sensei said to get out, your dinner is ready!"

Naruto heard her coming from the short distance and jumped out of the water, before grabbing his towel and quickly covering himself.

Hinata appeared through the bushes, when she noticed Kiba was still in his towel she blushed, turned around quickly and muttered something to him.

"Sorry, what did you say Hinata-chan?"

"Uh… your dinner is ready"

Naruto grabbed his clothes and walked past her, "Okay, your turn, take your time, I'll hold them off if they wonder why you're taking so long"

Naruto owed her that atleast for making her stay in her sweaty clothes all day. When the boy got back to the camp, Kurenai had already retreated to her tent and Kakashi sat around the fire alone, reading his book (as always) except he looked up at Naruto and pointed to a towel handing up over Hinata and Kurenai's tent, "Hinata forgot her towel, will you take it to her?"

"Can I get dressed first?" Naruto explained, pulling his undies up under his towel.

"Just do it"

Naruto stomped over to the towel and back off into the woods in only his undies and towel.

What he walked into however, he did not expect.

There sat Hinata… at the edge of the water, her feet and legs dangling into the water, adjusting her body to the temperature. Her figure was sculptured so beautifully, from the bend of her back to the curves of her hips. He could see her figure so perfectly; Naruto couldn't help but let a slight blush cross his cheeks. He had never seen a woman he knew naked before him (without it being some of Jiraiya's Research) he could see the side of her breast and oh how he longed to see the rest of her body.

He didn't know what to do, but slowly backed into the forest until he could no longer see the perfect girl. It took him more than a second to focus his mind on to what his current task was.

"Uh… Hinata-chan! You left your towel at the campsite!" He yelled out and eagerly waited to hear a splash of the water. He heard the splash not long after he finished his sentence and heard the girl yell back out to him, "Ah Kiba-kun, can you just turn around and hang it on the tree near the pool?

Naruto complied with her request and slowly backed into the area before hanging up her towel and fumbling to say goodnight before running out and back to the campsite.

Kakashi looked at him as he entered, grabbing his clothes quickly and returning to his tent.

The grey-haired Jounin looked up from his book and a smile lit up his face, "Ah so much more amusing then my book" he giggled to himself and returned back to the said object.

Hinata didn't spend that night with Naruto playing cards; instead she lay awake in her tent awkwardly thinking about forgetting her towel.

_I can't believe I forgot it…_

**The end**

A/N Okay, so this chapter is longer than normal, and I will try to increase the length as I go until I get it at a length that I like. R&R :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Here I Am**

**Chapter 7**

Hinata was pretty embarrassed after the current mishap that most probably involved Kiba getting a look at her body. She couldn't believe she had forgotten her towel and that the end resort was Kiba delivering it to her, don't get her wrong, they are friends… but there is a limit to how friendly you should get, especially considering her long (and overwhelming) crush on Naruto Uzumaki, The boy of her dreams.

Everyone in their small group of Ninja seemed to be getting along quite fine, to her amusement Kurenai and Kakashi also seemed to enjoy spending their time together.

Hinata looked around her tent and couldn't actually believe that this was her life from now on, with these three other people… on the road. She couldn't wait until she had arrived at their destination. A nice hot shower - with a door that locks. Rolling over in her sleeping bag she decided that she had better get some sleep before there was none left for her to get!

Naruto on the other hand, was still blushing from seeing side boob. He looked over to the side of the tent and grabbed for his backpack – taking out the chakra pills that Jaraiya had given him - This was the one big risk they were taking having Hinata on the team. She could sense the differences in chakra and Naruto's was extremely different and they didn't want to compromise the mission. He grabbed a singular pill out and placed the red capsule in his mouth before taking a sip of water.

He turned onto his back and placed his hands behind his head, staring at the top of the tent, he just couldn't drift off, and the images of Hinata kept running through his head. _How did I never notice her before?_ It didn't make matters better considering that she thought he was Kiba, once she knew the truth, all of this 'bonding' wouldn't count for anything! He knew he had to start dropping clues that he was himself… _What a confusing sentence. _

The next couple of days went pretty smoothly for the group, nothing overly exciting happened, just the usual low rate thugs that overestimated their abilities. Naruto tried to drop Hinata clues about his true identity but she didn't seem to notice. He was having so much fun with the Kunoichi that he couldn't even believe it! (This coming from a guy whose catch phrase is believes it!). They played cards together every night and Hinata always won, Naruto believed she had been cheating, but she looked too innocent for something like that. Too sum it up; he was really enjoying her company.

When the sun began to rise the next day Kakashi came in and lightly shook Naruto's shoulder to announce the next stop over of their trip.

"A hot spring?" Questioned the Blonde, "Awesome! I was getting sick of sharing a tent with such a pervert!"

Kakashi sighed at the boy and moved over to pick up his backpack before grabbing his favorite book and heading out of the tent to avoid the young boy's taunts.

As they came upon the first structures they had seen in a couple of days. The large white walls had a thick timber panel running horizontally with a twirling pattern embedded into it elegantly.

Naruto slightly turned his head towards the Hyuuga heir that walked beside himself, the light had hit her face in such a perfect way that her rosy red cheeks finished off her petite look, Hinata's face lit up at the idea of a nice hot spa bath, good food and an even better massage.

When they reached the counter the receptionist smiled at them and happily took their money and quickly sent them off to their assigned rooms.

Naruto took in the odd paintings on the wall of the bath house and then of the view outside, the couples walking around playing the mini games that had been set up, laughing and cuddling.

"Kiba, are you listening?" moaned Kakashi sensei, obviously displeased with the boy.

"Uh? Yes… Yes I was-!"

Bang

Kakashi smacked the boy over the back of the head.

"Kurenai and I have to meet up with the owner of the resort; you and Hinata have the rest of the afternoon to yourself, Enjoy"

Naruto looked over to the Hyuuga and caught her staring out at the fair in the courtyard, he caught her reflection in the mirror and couldn't help but stop for a second to take in the sight, "Hinata-chan?"

She looked over at him, blushing slightly "Let's go down to the fair Kiba-kun!" the words left her mouth with excitement, "Dad never lets me attend any in the village, he said that Hyuugas are too good for that"

Naruto smiled and picked up Hinata's bag off the ground, "Why don't we drop our stuff off at the room, get changed and we can head down, Huh?"

Hinata smiled at the person who she thought was Kiba and followed him happily down the hallway. They reached the room soon enough and it was such an elegant yet simple place. Four futons lie neatly side by side across the room with a table between the two in the middle. On the table someone had placed a white vase that was shaped like a pear and there was four lavender flowers placed neatly within the proximity of the glass.

Naruto placed his bag on the futon furthest to the left and then Hinata's next to him, Hinata blushed at the fact that this meant that the table was separating them and their sensei's. She watched the boy in front of her pull some clothes out from his bag and place them messily on his bed.

"Do you think it's hot out Hinata-chan?"

She looked over to him as he began to unzip his jacket and reach for the hem of his shirt. He looked over to the girl beside him and noticed the blush beginning to rise, "Ah sorry Hinata-chan, I'll go use the bathroom, call out to me when you are finished and I'll come out!"

Hinata pulled out a sundress from her backpack and in a quick movement she attempted to take off all of her clothes and swap them for the dress before Kiba would finish getting changed. The dress was white with grey shades of flowers surrounding it in beautiful twirls. She folded her ninja attire and she noticed something odd, at the corner of Kiba's bag rested Naruto's Frog purse, _That's odd_ she thought _Why would Kiba have the same wallet as Naruto_

That's when it all clicked.

**Sorry it's been so long! I just finished university the other week so I started writing on this chapter, I hope its ok!**

**Also, Merry Christmas! Or Happy Holidays? **

**Yours Sincerely - ThymineKyuuzumaki**


	8. Chapter 8

**And im back! Enjoy**

**Here I am**

**Chapter 8**

Hinata couldn't help but stare at the familiar sight in front of her, this green frog wallet that she had seen Jaraiya-sensei take advantage with so often. Why would Kiba, her teammate, have the same wallet as his blonde rival. _Should I ask Kiba-kun?_ Then another thought crossed her mind. _Having Kakashi-sensei on this mission doesn't make any sense… unless this is not really Kiba. The Ramen, Odd gestures and sentence structures. Maybe it's really Naruto-kun? They are trying to hide him from the Akatsuki, this is well thought-of idea, and they wouldn't suspect us as a team. _

A large blush came upon her face as she remembered the towel incident and she started to sway back and forth, almost passing out upon her futon. Quickly Hinata shook her head in disbelief and gathered that there must be another reason for this.

In the bathroom Naruto was having trouble choosing which shirt to wear, now that he was pretending to be Kiba, he had to wear Kiba's casual clothes out. Unfortunately for him, Kiba wore blue denim skinny jeans and was also a fan of plain V-neck shirts that had two or three buttons down the front. He decided for the plain white shirt and rushed to put it on before Hinata came up with weird ideas of why he was taking so long. He reached for the doorknob and gently turned it, before opening the door he called out.

"Are you ready, Hinata-chan?"

A surprised squeak and some rushed noises came before her reply, "Hai, Kiba-kun"

Naruto stepped out of the bathroom and looked towards his fellow ninja, when his eyes finally fell upon her he couldn't believe he hadn't noticed something before. How beautiful Hinata was. Not just the fact that she was pretty and petite, but that combined with her innocent and slightly naïve personality made her beautiful, inside and out.

He took some steps before her and a slight blush adorned her face, not because she thought it was Naruto, but because he was gazing at her so oddly, that she just wasn't sure how to respond.

Naruto easily noticed this and re adjusted his eyes in another direction, he looked towards his bag and noticed it half open. He moved closer and he could see his wallet – which was sure to take one hell of a hit today – lying there in the open. _Oh crap! Ahhh no one else in the village uses the same wallet as me, what am I going to say! Jesus._

Hinata noticed him staring at the backpack and turned to face him, "Do you have your money, Kiba-kun?" she asked politely.

Naruto stepped over to the bag and pulled out the frog, _here goes nothing_ he thought to himself.

"Ah yeah, Do you like my new wallet? I won it off Naruto in a bet, I'm not too sure if I want to be seen in public with it, it's pretty dorky"

Hinata felt a sigh of relief wash over herself. She wasn't sure if it was the truth, but she didn't see any reason for her team-mate to lie to her about something like this (and Naruto and Kiba were always trying to beat the other)

She stepped over towards Kiba and grabbed the wallet out of his hands, "I think it's cute" she said as she examined it closely.

"What? Wait, you do?" he questioned.

She prodded the wallet curiously and he couldn't help but start to smile a little, "What are you doing, Hinata-chan?"

"I've never seen it this close before! It's the cutest thing I've ever seen. It's a bit dirty though, you might need to give it a wash Kiba-kun!"

He laughed at her and grabbed her own wallet out of her hand, it was a black pouch with silver lining around it, topped off with a silver string attached that when pulled would close the opening.

"What are you doing?"

He placed it gently back in her bag and walked towards the door, "It's my shout Hinata-chan!"

Hinata and Naruto walked around the large festival in the courtyard for many hours, they played all of the games that were to offer and boy did it cost Naruto most of his savings, but when he looked over at his friend, he didn't seem to care. He felt like he was growing fonder of Hinata every day. Out of all of the people he could be stuck with, he was definitely glad it was her. Hinata beat Naruto in most of the mini-games that they had played with each other. She was having so much fun with him, and she didn't even know who he actually was! Naruto was starting to get tired of having to pretend to be Kiba, he wanted to talk to Hinata as himself, but he knew that there was a good chance she would pass out if that were to happen.

They had lunch at a nice place within the resort, it was a sushi train. Hinata begged him to let them go there for lunch and established the fact that she wouldn't let him pay for all of this; as soon as they got back to the room she would give him money. Naruto hadn't eaten so much healthy food in his whole life. I mean he loved Ramen, but this was pretty good, and Hinata seemed to really enjoy it also.

As he finished his last bite he placed his chopsticks down on the table and rubbed his stomach, "Where to now?"

They both walked outside and looked around, before spotting a nice park just outside the gates of the resort. "How about over there?"

Naruto's face lit up at the view that greeted them as they came across what was actually a field.

"It's so pretty" Hinata's eyes were having trouble taking in the beauty of the area.

Naruto looked over to her, "Wait here for a second?"

He disappeared for a couple of minutes and came back with a red picnic blanket in his hand, "We can lay on this!" He unfolded the blanket and flicked his hands to place it neatly on the ground.

"Thank you Kiba-kun!" She smiled at him as she said this and a slight blush grew onto the young boys face.

"You are more than welcome, Hinata-chan"

There they both were together, lying on their backs, watching the clouds float by and trying to figure out exactly what shape they looked like. They bickered over the clouds and laughed at each other's interpretation.

"Hey Hinata?"

"Yes, Kiba-kun?"

He turned his head sideways towards her, "Have you ever felt a strong connection to somebody before? Even though you hadn't spent much time with them"

Hinata went red, "Ah..K-Kiba-Kun… W-Wh…What?...uh" she placed her index fingers against each other, "Uh.. Ye-Yeah, I don't know, Sortof?"

"Ha-ha what kind of an answer is that!" he replied, amused.

"Well… it's kind of hard to explain, T-the person that I… like… He doesn't really notice me"

Naruto found this hard to believe (Ironically) Hinata was so beautiful and kind, how could someone not be interested in her.

"No way! Who could be stupid enough to not notice you Hinata-chan!"

She turned her head the other direction, causing Naruto's curiosity to rise.

"Who is it anyway? This guy?"

There was a sudden cloud of smoke.

**And there was the cliffhanger, Will Hinata find out who he really is?**

**I hope you all had a Merry Christmas (or happy holidays), As I live in Australia it is the 26****th**** now! So if you are still having Christmas, Enjoy. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Ok so I got a comment about this chapter being slightly rushed so i have decided to re write it! Sorry that it takes me a while to upload etc I'm at university studying biotechnology so it can get extremely hectic but I look forward to your comments! I also added a little bit to the end of the chapter. **

**Here I am **

**Chapter 9 (re-write)**

A cloud of smoke surrounded Naruto quickly and he knew that it couldn't be a good sign. As the mist began to clear he had a quick look at his hands before he noticed something extremely wrong, his "Kiba" Hands were no longer hairy and they weren't the slightest bit beastly, they just continued to be the same dirty hands he had always had. His heart skipped a beat as he came to a sudden realization of what had just happened and many scenarios ran through his head of what would happen.

"I-I don't really want to speak about it Ki-" At that point in her sentence the Hyuuga girl turned around and her mouth dropped open in shock. She froze up, unable to move, and just sat there staring at the blonde boy she had come to love.

"I can explain!" Naruto shouted out, "Please don't be angry!"

Hinata felt all of her blood rush to her head and her vision begin to blur, she took in a deep blush and with that she passed out, slowly she fell to her side. Naruto became frantic very quickly and just managed to catch the kunoichi in his arms before she grazed the grass beneath her.

_Ah, she's going to hate me forever, god Naruto you are such an idiot, you should have just told her from the start! What should I do? She has passed out._He looked over to her as the weather turned for the worst and it began to sprinkle, "Crap…" he muttered to himself before placing her arms around his neck and picking her up off the ground. As he walked towards cover the rain just continued to get heavier and heavier and the clouds became darker, casting a shadow over the entire property. When Naruto managed to get under cover the rain had begun to fall with force, pounding on the roof above him. He walked through the hallways of the resort and towards their bedroom getting many a suspicious look from other customers, he tried to put on an innocent smile to assure them that nothing seedy was taking place but by the look that he received he could only assume that they were thinking the worst.

When he got to the door he moved around, changing Hinata's position in order to get a hand free and reach out to turn the wooden doorknob. He walked inside dripping water all over the floorboards and placing Hinata on a nearby futon before grabbing a blanket and placing it over her tucking it in just below her chin. She was so adorable, her cheeks rosy red and her body slightly shivering. He began to rub up and down her shoulders with his hands attempting to warm her body up.

He sighed to himself, _how did I let this happen? Kakashi-sensei is going to kill me once he finds out that I blew my cover._

After starting the fireplace within the bedroom Naruto moved towards the bathroom in order to take a shower, he hadn't realized it until now, but he was also beginning to get cold.

He stripped down and jumped in the shower, being sure to avoid forgetting his towel. Even though he gathered Hinata would be unconscious for quite some time. The feeling of warm water cascading down his body felt nice, he hadn't been able to shower in an enclosed space since they had left. By the time he got out the room was extremely foggy. When he got out he briskly grabbed his towel and began to dry off his bright yellow hair (amongst other areas) and proceeded to wrap the towel around his waist.

Unfortunately for Naruto, He had forgotten to bring his clothes in with him.

He could either wait for Kurenai and Kakashi to get back, or he could venture out into the room where Hinata was passed out and gather his bag on his own. It didn't seem too risky.

He tip toed on the floor boards and over towards his backpack. He wasn't really sure what he was going to do about his cover. Maybe he could convince Hinata to keep the fact that she knows away from Kakashi-sensei.

By this time he was crouched over his backpack rummaging for his underwear, Hinata had begun to return to real life and her eyelids fluttered gently.

She looked towards the ceiling, slightly confused and in a matter of seconds all of the information she had learnt finally came back to her. _Naruto-kun!_She thought to herself _Ah, I treated him like Kiba for days, and I'm so embarrassed. Wait… I actually...__Talked_ _to Naruto!_ She moved her hand to her face and wiped the hair out of her eyes before grunting at the light that was hitting her face from the fireplace.

Naruto heard the noise and shot up from his backpack and turned around quickly.

"Hinata-chan! Ah… You're awake! I'm so sorry about the whole thing! I wasn't allowed to tell you about having to pretend to be Kiba, Please don't hate me!"

His face burnt red when he noticed Hinata's eyes locked on his chest, his chiselled abs were slightly shining as the light from the fireplace hit the moisture from his shower. He quickly covered his chest with his bag and retreated to the bathroom.

"He thinks I'm angry at him?" Hinata whispered to herself.

She felt bad that Naruto could ever think she would be angry at him! But she was so embarrassed, because it means that he was the one who brought her towel to her that time in the forest and that time when they played cards together, _I can't believe that this whole time it was Naruto, I can't believe he agreed to it!...____ she thought to herself for a moment before hopelessly changing her tune towards him __He must have felt so bad, lying to me._

There was silence for a couple of minutes as the purple haired kunoichi sat in anger at the blonde; she didn't like being treated like this, especially being lied to. Then she realised that she would much rather Naruto with her then Kiba, it was her chance to change and prove that she was strong in front of him. Hinata picked herself up of the ground and walked over to the bathroom door and began knocking on it.

"N-N" Hinata just couldn't force it out, She was still too nervous.

Breathing deeply (making Naruto more nervous about her being angry) she closed her eyes for a second and levelled her head.

"Naruto-kun?!"

"I'm sorry Hinata, I should have told you earlier"

"I-It's okay, Naruto-kun"

The door cracked open a tiny bit, revealing a clothed blonde Shinobi.

"Are you sure? I feel really bad?"

Hinata caught his eye contact and instantly looked down at the floor, "it's okay, Naruto-kun, I understand…"

Naruto opened the door and embraced the girl that stood in front of him, "Thank you Hinata-chan!" he looked around the room as he pulled away from the girl infront of him.

Hinata was already closed to passing out from the proximity that the blonde had attained for the hug, "W-Why?" she squeaked.

"Uh, We couldn't have Akatsuki following me out of the village so baa-chan got me to impersonate a comrade... it was Kiba because it wouldn't

Naruto seemed disappoint in himself and Hinata couldn't stand that, even though he betrayed her trust, it was still the same old Naruto that she had grown fond of.

"W-what i-if i didn't find out? i... could pretend...?" she slowed her sentence as the silence made her weary that she may sounded like an idiot, but as she looked up at Naruto's face calm swept over her, he was smiling.

"You would do that for me?"

"Y-Yes Naruto-kun" Hinata began to look back at the ground.

"Plus," Naruto added, "I don't think you have ever talked to me so much! I know i've told you this before... but I really like people like you, Hinata-chan. These last couples of days have been fun"

Before Hinata could reply she held her hand to her face and let out a small sound, Aaaaaachoo

Naruto laughed at the sound, "Go on, Have a shower and hop back into bed, I'll order us some food! You like Senzai (soft bean jam) and cinnamon rolls rights? I'll get some Ramen as well!"

After a few days travelling together Naruto had gathered a lot of information about Hinata, she told him all kinds of stories on their journey and one happened to be about how one time she tried teaching Neji how to cook cinnamon rolls and it ended up looking more like a burnt lump. Some kind of genius, Huh? He laughed at the image of Neji in an apron.

Hinata rushed into the bathroom to take off her damp clothes and stood in the mirror, her frilly bra soaked completely. She looked at herself, and a slight smile overtook her face, _Naruto-kun likes me as a person_. She had felt this way one time before, just before the chuunin final exam when she ran into Naruto. Hinata enjoyed this feeling a lot; it made her feel closer to the blonde. _Maybe I have a chance to get to know him better now._

Aaaachooo!Hinata startled herself yet again, "Ah I think my damp clothes have given me a cold"

Through the door she heard another person sneeze, Naruto was also becoming sick.

Before Hinata knew it she had finished showering and was clad in her purple pajamas which consisted of a V-neck singlet, a cardigan type frock that was arm length and three-quarter pants. She left the bathroom and when she came out the table in between the futons was adorned by food. The fireplace had warmed up the room nice and Hinata felt very cozy.

Naruto was already seated at the table waiting for the girl to come out before he began eating.

"Hinata-chan! The food is nice and warm, come and e- Aaachooooo! Ah gomen, sorry, I think I'm coming down with something after carrying you inside when it started raining."

"Sorry" Hinata fiddled her fingers and looked down at the food in front of her. The fact that he cared enough to carry her inside made her lip curve into a small smile.

"Ah it was no trouble! Itadakimasu!" Naruto broke his chopsticks in half and began to scoff down his noodles. Hinata let out a small giggle without realizing it; she quickly leapt to cover her mouth.

The boy stopped – mid slurp – and looked over to her. He was eating like such a pig.

"N-Naruto-kun… A suggestion?" Hinata whispered.

"Hai Hinata-chan? What is it?" he looked at her curiously.

"You know if you eat it slower you can fully appreciate the taste of the Ramen"

Naruto thought about it for a second. He had never eaten Ramen slowly before, he was always just so excited to eat his favorite food that he coulnd't help but stuff his face immediately and very disturbingly as soon as the bowl was placed in front of him. He curiously pocked at the noodles with his chopsticks and picked up a bundle of them, looking over to Hinata for approval, she laughed at him and moved closer to him suggesting with her hands for him to pass her the bowl. She gently picked up three or four strands of noodles and looked back over to him. She placed the noodles back in the bowl and moved it back to the blonde.

"Go ahead" she gestured towards him.

He did as she had shown him, and slurped the three or four noodles up, (close to) instantly swallowing them.

_He is the same guy you have been talking to this entire time Hinata! Suck it up!_Hinata kept repeating to herself in order to get the confidence to be so close to Naruto's body.

"Naruto-kun, you have to chew the noodles slowly to get the full flavor"

He attempted the process again, this time chewing. A new light was brought into his life and he smiled so brightly as he closed his eyes and swam in the new taste in his mouth.

"Ah Hinata-chan! You are right! It tastes so much better than before, Arigato!"

Hinata couldn't believe the great time she was having with her crush, it was so liberating to be able to have a meal with him, and it was almost like they were on a date. However, she knew that this wasn't the start of a romantic relationship. It was the start of something more basic than that.

A friendship.

When they had finished the meal Hinata couldn't help but let out a large sneeze and Naruto pleaded with her to warm up in front of the fire. They moved bother of their futons in front of the fire lying about half a meter from each other.

They both were staring at the ceiling, getting ready for bed. Naruto was getting ready to henge back into Kiba and continue attempting to be the boy.

"Hey Hinata-chan, you know how you told me that guy never noticed you? You shouldn't worry about it, I'm more than sure the right guy will come along, you have a wonderful personality and you are extremely caring. You will find your soul mate, believe it!"

Naruto looked straight into Hinata's eyes as he said these sentences, she looked so beautiful in the light from the fireplace. Naruto began to slowly move in closer to her, without even realizing it consciously and Hinata did the same (except with a blush on her face)

"N-Naruto-kun?" she whispered gently.

There was a bang at the door and Naruto was sent back into reality. He quickly placed his hands together and performed his Henge. The doorknob rotated and in came a very drunk Kurenai and Kakashi singing an old song that originated in Konoha.

"Hahaha Kakashi you pervert, you sing horribly!" shouted Kurenai stumbling onto her bed and quickly passing out.

She was lucky enough to make it to her bed; Kakashi had closed the door behind him and slid straight down it, making the door his bed for the night.

Naruto and Hinata realized that their sensei's were out cold and they broke out into laughter for several minutes. As they calmed down Naruto poured some water over the fire place and hoped under his covers.

"Are you warm enough, Hinata-chan" he asked worriedly.

"Y-Yes Naruto-kun, Thank you for asking"

"Good night Hinata-chan," Naruto rolled over in his bag and began to slip off into a deep blissful sleep, "Sleep well"

"Good night, Naruto-kun" She whispered, understanding that the boy was already fast asleep, "Good night"

Naruto woke up in a daze, the dream he had sat still at the back of his mind and brought a bright red blush to his face (usually what Hinata would adorn) he couldn't help but shun himself for taking on at least one of Jiraiyas qualities that he swore would never become one of his attributes. So many things had happened in the last couple of days and he couldn't believe any of it at the slightest, it was like he was stuck in a permanent dream world. He rolled over onto his side and let out a tiny sneeze as vibrant purple hair tickled his nose. He smiled slightly and moved his hand across the wooden floor, resting it slightly on his comrade's mattress before quickly receding under his blanket realising how weird it was to think of Hinata this way.

He had never really seen her that way, she was always a friend that he could trust, but she wore such baggy clothes that he never really saw her feminine side. It was just odd. It was Hinata! Naruto had always wanted to protect his friends and it was no different when it came to this kunoichi. The blonde felt a sensation in his chest suddenly. I think this is the start of an amazing friendship! The past couple of days ran through his mind in order to reinforce the idea.

He _really_ liked people like her.


End file.
